My Company

By Paula Aven Gladych

Benefits packages play a major role in whether the majority of people will accept or reject a job, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

More than three-quarters of employees say that the benefits package an employer offers prospective employees is extremely or very important in their decision to take the job, according to the 2013 Health and Voluntary Workplace Benefits Survey.

Thirty-one percent of respondents said they were only somewhat satisfied with the benefits offered by their current employer and 26 percent said they weren’t satisfied at all.

Workers identify lower cost and choice as strong advantages to having employer-sponsored voluntary benefits. The disadvantages are having their employer choose their benefits provider and having to pay the full cost of any voluntary benefits, the survey found.

Health insurance continues to be the top-ranked benefit, with 88 percent of employees saying that health care benefits are extremely or very important.

EBRI found that workplace benefits coverage isn’t universal, with 76 percent reporting they have health insurance, 67 percent saying they are offered dental insurance and 66 percent having access to a retirement plan. Sixty percent say they are offered vision insurance, 58 percent are offered life insurance and 55 percent short-term disability insurance.

Only 38 percent of those surveyed said they were offered a traditional pension or defined benefit plan and 25 percent said they were offered long-term care insurance. Twenty-two percent said they are offered retiree health insurance.

The Employee Benefit Research Institute is a private, nonpartisan, nonprofit research institute based in Washington, D.C., that focuses on health, savings, retirement and economic security issues.